NO ELECTIONS IN 2017 if you change the law Raila

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) now warns that the 2017 General Election will not take place should the Jubilee administration change the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2016.

CORD leader, Raila Odinga, who was speaking at the Lwanda’s Nyamasare beach where he presided over a boat-racing event, said that the opposition will not let the government side change the laws haphazardly.

He said that the law Jubilee is seeking to change was negotiated and cannot be tampered with, adding that the re-introduction of manual voting system was a ploy to steal the election.

“The law they (Jubilee) want to change was negotiated upon and, therefore, cannot be changed,” said Odinga.

He said that any changes must be done through consultations.

“Any changes to the law must be done through consultations, otherwise no such a thing will take place, we will not accept.”

The CORD leader said that Jubilee had declared a state of emergency in the country and that CORD would not accept that.

He accused the National Assembly Speaker, Justin Muturi, of violating the Standing Orders to call for a special sitting to discuss the proposed amendments to the election laws.

“The Speaker did not follow the law as stipulated in the Standing Order No. 61 on calling a special or emergency session of the National Assembly,” he noted.

He further argues that the manual system of voting, which has been proposed by the Jubilee faction as an alternative to the electronic voting system in cases where it (electronic system) fails, is easy to manipulate.

“Kenya should not go back to an election using the manual system of voting because it is prone to manipulation and abuse.”

Odinga was speaking just a day after chaos marred the special Parliament session where opposition legislators disrupted the proceedings in a bid to block the amendments to the election laws.

Despite the session ending prematurely, Speaker Muturi, through a Special Gazette notice, summoned the MPs for yet another sitting on Thursday, December 22 to discuss the proposed amendments to the election laws.

The opposition MPs have vowed to block the second attempt to change the law with the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) Director of Elections and Suna East MP, Junet Mohammed, saying that they will block the motion from the onset.

On the other hand, Jubilee argues that the opposition CORD is planning to use technology to steal the election.